updates Sunday before he was booted.
"It's a real question that we're being deprived of our right to report within the First Amendment from a public facility," Jon L. Fleischaker, the newspaper's attorney, told The Courier-Journal. "Once a player hits a home run, that's a fact. It's on TV. Everybody sees it. (The NCAA) can't copyright that fact. The blog wasn't a simulcast or a recreation of the game. It was an analysis."
Courier-Journal editors were told by University of Louisville athletic staffers that it would jeopardize the school's chances of hosting another NCAA baseball event if they did not revoke Bennett's credential.
"If that's true, that's nothing short of extortion and thuggery," executive editor Bennie L. Ivory said.
Josh Centor, a blogger on the NCAA's official web site, chimed in on the issue on Monday and came across as a voice of reason. Which means his butt will be fired by the end of the week.
"Bennett wasn’t drunk, rowdy or naked, instead getting the boot for his despicable blogging habit," Centor wrote.
While acknowledging the need to honor broadcast contracts with ESPN and other outlets, Centor cut to the heart of the matter my pointing out that blogging hardly qualifies as live broadcasting.
"I find all of this quite unnecessary," he said of the dust-up. "The world of media has changed and I think this policy makes my organization look arcane because journalists now publish their thoughts in real time on the Internet. I don’t know anybody in their right mind who would choose in-game commentary on a blog over a television broadcast, so I don’t see how there’s competition between our partners and independent bloggers who have received credentials."
Like I said, Centor will certainly be told to clear out his desk soon.
(For more on the issue, check out the ongoing thread on the Sportsjournalists.com forums.)
Ithaca coach bumped by policy: Retired teacher Terry Habecker will not be back for a 35th season as boys soccer coach at Ithaca High, capping his record at 435-176-37.
Ithaca City School District athletics director Bill Bryant told Habecker, who retired from teaching in 2004, on Monday he will not be retained as part of a school district policy that puts an emphasis on hiring district employees to coach.
Bryant said no district employees applied for the boys' varsity soccer job the past two seasons, but there are two applicants this spring.
Ithaca went 12-3-2 last fall. Habecker's teams earned five Section 4 championships.
